Antifriction hinge



W. T. ROSSELL ANTIFRICTION HINGE July 22, 1952 2' SHEETS SHEET 1 Filed March 7, 1945 f T l a L H a a 1 v 3; r v 7 v a d n.5,] a 7 1 a flag/{Mp T 22555 44 w 04% 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 \A/llZl/IM- TY W. T. RUSSELL ANTIFRICTION HINGE July 22, 1952 Filed March 7, 1 945 Patented July 22, 1952 ANTIFRICTION HINGE 'William T. Rossell, New York, N. Y., assignor to Transit Research Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 7, 1945, Serial No. 581,526

" 2 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges and hinge construction of the type suitable for swinging the door of a public vehicle such as a street car or bus.

An object of the invention is to provide a single hinge capable of serving as the full support of a door or door panel and having spaced, aligned bearings to lend rigidity to the door assembly.

Another object is to provide a single, suspensory type of hinge composed essentially of a shaft and two spaced bearings, the bearings being contained in a tubular housing for the shaft with the result that the shaft is protected and reenforced while the bearings are assured of correct alignment for a prolonged period of time.

A further object is to provide a' hinge construction by which it becomes a matter of simple selection whether the door or door panel is to H swing to a position so that its edge will project outwardly of the side of the car, be flush with the side of the car or swing to a position interiorly of the car body.

Other objects and advantages will become hereinafter more fully apparent as reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of a vehicle showing my improved hinge. in vertical diametric section supporting a, door panel,

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken along the line 22 of Figure 1, showing twin door panels supported by two hinges, and

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are diagrammatic illustrations showing the application of my improved hinge to obtain different positions of a door panel when it is swung to open position.

More particularly, l indicates a door panel which is supported solely at its upper edge by a bracket 2 which is supported in turn by my improved hinge.

The hinge is composed of a shaft 3 to which the bracket 2 is fixedly secured and which is rotatably mounted within a tube 4. The shaft 3 is, or may be, cylindrical throughout the major portion of its length, terminating at its upper end in a reduced portion 5 forming a shoulder against which an antifriction bearing 6 is pressed. A spacer l is placed over the bearing 6 and a retaining nut 8 is screwed on the upper end of the shaft 3 which is threaded for this purpose and tightened against the spacer l.

The tube 4 has an internal shoulder 9 and an external shoulder l0 near the lower end thereof, and is threaded externally from its shoulder H] to its lower end. An open nut l I having an internal 2 shoulder I2 is screwed onto the threads externally of the tube 4 until it abuts the shoulder lil. Pressed between the lower end of the tube 4 and the shoulder l2 is an anti-friction bearing l3 for the shaft 3 and between the top of the bearing 13 and the shoulder 9 a packing II is snared. The lower part of the open nut ll rests upon a head panel [5 which is welded or otherwise fixedly secured to the roof sheeting 16 of the exterior of the vehicle.

The upper end'of the tube 4 is also threaded to receive an open nut ll having an internal flange it which screws down tightly agains'tthe end of the tube. The antifriction bearing fits snugly in the open nut IT and against the'flange l3, being held thereagainst by an open capj 36 which is threaded'into the outer end of the open nut ll. An oil and dust shield l9 is snaredbe tween an internal flange at the top of the cap 36 and the bearing 5, this shield closely fitting the spacer 1. v I v j The bearings 6 and I3, as illustrated in-the drawings, are of the type known as self .alig'n ing bearings in which the outer race mayv be" r0.- tated through a'slight angle with respect tothe inner race. The bearings'will thus be aligned by the tube 4 and nuts II and ll, andwhen aligned, the upper bearing will serve also as a thrustbearing.

An angularly formed supporting shelf v20 is'see cured at each end to the roof sheeting IS. .A collar 2| between the nut I1. and this shelf rests on the shelf and lends rigidity to the hinge,

The length (laterally)' and, position ofqthe bracket 2 on the door leaf or panel. I 'may be varied to give different results as respects the position of the leaf or panel when opened. This can best be explained with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5.

Consider first Figure 4 in which the dotted position 23 represents the position of a door or door leaf when closed and when substantially flush with the side of the vehicle of Which it forms a part. The numeral 24 indicates the position of the door leaf when swung through a 90 arc to open position. The outer edge 25 of the leaf has reached a position substantially flush with the exterior of the vehicle body. In order to obtain this relation the bracket indicated by the dotted line 26 is secured to the mid-point of the top of the door leaf and its pivotal point 21, corresponding to the axis of the shaft 3, lies on a line 28 bisecting the arc formed by the two positions 23 and 24 of the leaf. The full line 3 position 29, of course, is of equal length with the dotted position 26 of the bracket.

If now we move the point of attachment of the bracket Elito the left of center of the leaf 23 and If now we move the point of attachment of the bracket 26 to the right of center of the leaf 2?: and shift the pivot point 27 correspondingly to 'a new point 33 along the 45 locus line 28 it is seen in Figure 5 that the leaf will take the open position 34, in which the front edge 25 is entirely within the vehicle body, the original .position23 forming a part of the side of the body. The length of the bracket has increased as represented by the lines 35.

A design typifying the arrangement according to Figure 3 is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, by way of example, being best seen in Figure 2, in which two door leaves I and la together form the closure for a door. Each leaf is mounted, as previously described with particularreference to Figure 1, on a bracket 2 secured on the bottom of a shaft 3. The center lines A-A of each leaf is indicated onthe drawing and it will be seen that the bracket of the leaf l is off-set to the left of its center line and that the bracket of the leaf laisoifset to the right of its center line. When the leaf I swings through an arc of 90, in a counter-clockwise direction, to its dotted position, the outer edge 25 projects outwardly beyond the original position of the leaf. When the leaf l a swings through an arc 'of 90, in a clockwise direction, to its dotted position, its outer edge 25a likewise projects outwardly beyond the original position of the leaf. In both cases, the axis of the shaft 3 is intersected by a 45 locus line 28.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I desire to be extended protection as defined by the appended claims, wherein:

What I claim is:

has become shortened as represented by the line-i I ing whereby the weight of said pin is imposed on said upper bearing, a tubular member encompassing said pin and having an internally flanged opennut threaded on each end thereof, said nuts receiving said upper and lower bearings respectively in close fitting engagement, the flanges in said open nuts constituting means for longitudinally locating said' bearings, and a bracket on the lower end of said'pin for supporting a door.

2. A door hinge comprising a vertically disposed cylindrical hinge pin having a reduced portion near its upper end and forming a shoulder,

spaced anti-friction bearings for said pin each having'an inner and outer race, theupper of said bearings fitting around said reduced portion and threaded on each end thereof, said nuts receiving 1. A door hinge comprising a vertically disposed cylindrical hinge pin having a reduced portion near itsv upper end forming a shoulder, spaced bearings for said pin, the upper of said bearingsi'fitting around said reduced portion and abutting'said shoulder, a spacer above the upper bearing, a nut threaded on the upper end of said pin pressing said spacer against said upper bears the outer races of said upper and lower bearings respectivelyin close fitting engagement, the outer race of the lower of said. bearings being snared between the fiangeof the lower open nut and the end of said tube thereby locating it'longitudinally with respect to said tube, the outer race .of the upper of said bearings resting on the flange of the upper of said open nuts, a cap threaded in said upper open nutpressing against theouter race of said last named bearing therebylocating it longitudinally with respect to said tube, a dust shield guarding the upper ofsaid bearings and a bracket secured to the lower end of said pin for supporting a door. I

WILLIAM T. ROSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Great Britain 1 Feb. 19, 1931' 

